Spring is the Time
(a pantoum)
by
Joyce Sidman
Spring is the time for eggs:
soft air and sprigs of green.
Bright lemon sun,
wet nights singing.
Soft air and sprigs of green,
Snug nests and puddles.
Wet nights singing,
feathery days.
Snug nests and puddles--
new life, new hope.
Feathery days,
yellow as yolk.
New life, new hope!
Bright lemon sun,
yellow as yolk.
Spring is the time for eggs.
©2009 Joyce Sidman. All rights reserved.
Joyce Sidman won the first two Cybils for poetry... and it was as a judge on those panels that I fell deeply in the thrall of her poetry. I should note that in 2007, I thought "no way will the same person win the first two Cybils!" Then I read This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness (illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski). The book made me laugh... made me think... made me want to apologize to people... made me want to write poetry like the characters in the book... and made me want to read it over and over again. Now I dive into her work with glee, and was so thrilled to get a poem (let alone a pantoum, a form I love to read!) from her as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Joyce Sidman has a new book out now, again illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, called Red Sings from Treetops - a year in colors ... and over at the Miss Rumphius Effect, you have a chance to win a copy this month. Give that a try... but whatever you do, make sure you get a book of hers so you and the kids you share it with can join me in my thrall.
Yesterday we took The Flight Before Christmas with Adam Rex. Tomorrow... Rules for Spot by Bruce Lansky.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
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15 comments:
This is so delicate and yet concrete and beautiful. Joyce is one of my very favorite poets, and she's gracious and generous to boot. I can't wait to get this book.
Joyce is so amazingly adept at form. I can't write pantoum to save my life. Hers are always so beautifully connected.
Spring has always meant "weeds in wheels shoot long and lovely and lush..." but now I have new images for my feather-brain. Thank you!
Greg, as a fellow judge on that Cybils panel, I concur with all that and more! Every time I read a poem by Joyce Sidman, I want to turn to an imaginary (but huge) audience and say: now THAT is how it's done.
This is so graceful and fresh, and yet, it feels like a classic that's been with us forever. Thank you, Joyce, for a bit of Spring.
Oh, this is amazing. She is my inspriation for continuing to try the pantuom form, a fave of mine. I feel priveleged to be on the judging panel for the two years she recieved the CYBILS award.
I second your kudos for This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. I read several of Joyce's poems in this collection with my sixth grade LA classes. We then wrote some of our own. Of course, I had to dabble myself and wrote an apology poem to my husband for the first meal I ever cooked for him-lasagna. Well...actually it turned out to be lasagna soup--too much sauce, not enough noodles! I apologize. Everyone should check out Joyce's book, This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgivness. D.A. Tyo
So glad you linked to pantoum...I'm not sure what rock I've been under, but there weren't any pantoums there.
Wonder what else I've been missing (but probably won't fess up to :-)
I WILL check out Joyce's book next time I'm at the library!
Look at that form, will ya? Wow.
Oh I love spring best of all the seasons and this poem captures the very heart of it for me.
Oh, wow, the first TWO Cybils!? How cool. The forgiveness book sounds like something I'll especially want to check out.
I gave up on pantoums (pantoum? is there a plural?) because I never got them working well. Seeing this actually makes me want to try again -- I won't match this but wow! It's so fantastic to read... the cumulative effect so great.
Oh my gosh. I was taken aback by how beautiful "Spring is the Time" is. And now I think pantoums are my favorite form of poetry. I feel inspired enough by Joyce Sidman to write one of my own....
I think Joyce Sidman is one of the best kids poets publishing right now - her work always appears to be so effortless, which -- of course -- takes the most effort! Lovely poem. Thanks to both Joyce and Gregory.
I love Joyce Sidman's poetry and have several of her books. I use This is Just to Say with my students and we have wonderful forgiveness poems written by parents, siblings, and classmates. It is fun and the results are amazing. I can't wait to get her new book.
This really makes me want to try another pantoum. She does it so well and has crafted such wonderful repeating lines!
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